To dwell in darkness, by Deborah Crombie

I haven’t read many mysteries lately, and was glad to be clued into this author.  I didn’t realize, however, that it was the most recent volume in a series and rather wish I started at the beginning.  In any case, the novel stands alone pretty well even if you haven’t been following the characters’ development for years. I enjoyed it getting to know Duncan, Gemma and their circle.  “Ripped from the headlines,” the main plot involves a bombing in a London station, St. Pancras.  While the station filled with travelers and onlookers who are there for a concert given by an up-and-coming singer, a demonstration begins and a phosphorous hand-grenade is thrown.  The protesters insist that they only intended to use a smoke bomb and had no idea of the deadliness of the grenade they had obtained.  Who was the intended target and who made the substitution?  The plot is skillfully interwoven, leaving a loose end of a subplot at the end which will surely be the taking off point for the next book.  336 pp.